Mundy’s Bay could be just the beginning in a concerted effort to curb vehicle traffic near schools.
Health, municipal, education and safety officials hope that’s the case as the Midland public school serves as the regional pilot for the On the Move program that’s designed to encourage more students to use active forms of transportation to get to and from school.
And while some might hear the word ‘transportation’ and think of planes, trains and automobiles, there are other ways to get from point A to B that fit the bill, including walking, biking or even jumping on a skateboard.
“School travel planning takes two to three years,” said Annette Felstead, a project lead and public health nurse with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s chronic disease prevention program.
Besides trying to change behaviour, the move to create a more active school population also involves surveying families, observing traffic patterns and conducting walkabouts near schools.
“We take all that information to develop an action plan,” said Felstead, who noted implementing the plan has numerous benefits for children and communities by improving physical and mental health while also increasing a child’s cognitive function and social development, which, in turn, improves academic performance.
As well, she pointed out the action plan also helps create safer school zones through traffic calming and reduced congestion while improving air quality and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
The health unit received $110,000 from Green Communities Canada to create the area's On the Move program with support from the Simcoe County District School Board (SCBSD) and municipalities across both Simcoe and Muskoka.
“We’re developing a comprehensive plan and making it sustainable,” Felstead said. “We developed a steering committee for all of Simcoe Muskoka and one of their tasks is to determine how to make it sustainable. We’ve had pretty good public support.”
Bradford's St. Angela Merici Catholic School is one of the schools chosen for the initial roll out of the program.
SCDSB principal Brian Jackson said too much vehicular traffic remains a safety concern that occurs at most schools.
“We have a lot of traffic issues with students being dropped off and picked up that could be helped with this,” he said.
Southern Georgian Bay OPP Const. Aaron Coulter said everyone has an important role to play, including municipal officials who work to make their towns and villages more friendly for both walkers and cyclists.
Coulter, who lives in Penetanguishene and likes to bike to work in Midland, said he appreciates the dedicated cycling lanes along Fuller Avenue as well as Midland’s move to make Yonge Street more friendly to pedestrians, e-bikes and cyclists by reducing traffic lanes.
“I would like to see it (the lane-reduction initiative) on William Street and King Street as well,” he added.
Midland town councillor Jonathan Main, who’s involved with the local project and is also a Mundy’s Bay parent, is a major proponent of active transportation.
“We have a multi-modal transportation plan,” Main said, noting the town is also planning several new crosswalk locations that should encourage walking while making it safer for pedestrians.
Main said effecting change through more cycling, walking and other modes of active transportation can sometimes take awhile since it involves encouraging some to alter mindsets that might consider a vehicle as the main form of transportation.
To that end, Felstead said participating schools have special events throughout the year such as “walk days, bike weeks and spring into spring” to increase plan awareness and promote an active lifestyle.
For more information about Ontario Active School Travel, click here.
